Preparations are underway the Mill-Luck Salmon Celebration the weekend of September 8-9! The annual event features canoe races, a traditional salmon bake dinner, cultural exhibits and demonstrations, a Native American marketplace, children’s activities and two concerts with Academy Award winning songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie.

This free event is an entertaining educational experience that the whole family will enjoy. Included again this year will be a “weigh station” and awards ceremony for the 13th Annual Coos Basin Amateur Salmon Derby.

Linked to the traditional observance marking the return of the salmon, The Mill-Luck Salmon Celebration, began as a means of sharing the heritage, culture and traditions of the Coquille Indian Tribe and other Pacific Northwest Tribes with residents and visitors to Oregon’s Bay Area. Now in its ninth year, the event attracts Native American artisans and musicians from throughout the Western United States and Canada.

Known for its traditional salmon bake dinner where fresh salmon is prepared in the time-honored Coquille open-pit manner, the Mill-Luck Salmon Celebration offers visitors the opportunity to experience Native American culture, art, food and music. The celebration, which runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, features daily performances by Native American storytellers, drummers, flutists and dancers, a marketplace offering traditional wares and foods, a bay-front canoe exhibit and races, traditional games and activities for children, plus a variety of cultural demonstrations and educational exhibits.

In addition to the free daytime events which will take place on the casino’s waterfront dock and North Parking lot, this year’s celebration also will feature Friday and Saturday evening concerts with Oscar-winning singer and songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie, known for both her protest and love songs including Until It’s Time for You to Go, Universal Soldier, and Up Where We Belong, the theme from the 1982 movie An Officer and a Gentleman, which won her both an Academy Award Oscar and a Golden Globe.

Tickets for Sainte-Marie’s 7 p.m. Salmon Room concerts and the popular Salmon Bake dinner, which will be served from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday are on sale at Ko-Kwel Gifts inside The Mill Casino • Hotel. Tickets for the concerts are $25 per person with discounts available for Mill Club members, while tickets for the Salmon Bake dinner, including a commemorative tee shirt, are $25 for adults and just $12 for children 11 and under, with discounts available for club members.